Continuations: The Batman: Season 6
by Triscribe
Summary: My episodes for a continued Season Six of The Batman, exploring ideas of other superheroes, and some different takes on traditional Gotham villains. Updates weekly, at best, with a few chapters per episode; mainly the mixing up of official DC characters and plots in new twists for stories. Currently, Episode 3: The Kryptonian Kid
1. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 1

"... Have to keep all your senses open; anything can give away a thug about to pull a sneak attack." Batman said in his stern tone. Nodding eagerly, Batgirl promised herself she'd start spending more afternoon workouts with a blindfold on.

"That all the notes for tonight, teach?" She asked. Silently, Batman nodded, then turned back towards the massive computer screen covered with recent police reports. As she slipped off her cowl, Barbara happened to glance over a couple of them, and frowned.

"Hey... Those are from Star City, not Gotham. What gives?"

"Something's been bothering Green Arrow at the last couple League meetings. I thought I'd see if I could figure out what it might be." He pulled up one document in particular, a small article with a fuzzy picture of a figure leaping over rooftops.

"_Star's New Status as a Haven for Archers_?" Barbara quirked an eyebrow at him, and Bruce pulled off his own cowl before sighing.

"This was taken three weeks ago while Arrow was very publicly bringing down Vertigo on the other side of town. Apparently, he's got a fan, who's been shooting down small time crooks and muggers while bigger game is occupying Ollie's attention."

"Aw, now doesn't that sound familiar." Still talking from the changing area she had moved to, Barbara asked the exact question that had been bothering Bruce for several days. "Think G.A. might take him on as a partner?"

"Would be nice to know who he is, first." The Dark Knight muttered.

"I heard that. And as you oh-so-delicately dropped to Dick when I first came here, you knew who I was for a lot longer than I suspected who you were." She emerged in civilian clothes once again. "Speaking of Mister pixie, I thought I might step upstairs before I left, see if he needs any help with his science homework."

Bruce rubbed a palm over his face. "Did he tell you he blew up the lab table yesterday?"

"Again? I gotta hand it to the kid, he's almost as destructive in his civilian ID as Robin." Chuckling, the college student entered the elevator leading from the Batcave to Wayne Manor above.

Only a few minutes after she had left and Bruce returned to scanning and cross referencing the news reports, he received an incoming transmission.

"Speak of the devil," He muttered, answering it.

"Hey, Bruce!"

"Oliver. What do you need?"

"Well, ah- are you alone at the moment?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "Ye-es." He replied, drawing out the word.

"Well, I wanted to ask you something. Batgirl got started on her own, right? How did you take it?" Realizing instantly where this was coming from, Bruce was careful to arrange his thoughts before answering.

"At first, I was very discouraging of her behavior, tried to tell her to go home, and generally made it a point to avoid contact with her."

"... And after that?" Ollie sounded anxious over the line.

"She stuck around, learning and proving herself to me."

"And that was enough for you to accept her as a partner?"

"The final push came when she was able to bring down a villain's airship by herself, since I was... preoccupied."

He could practically hear Ollie mulling this over. Bruce waited a minute before speaking again.

"This is about the vigilante who's been copying you, isn't it?"

A very deep sigh made itself heard from the man on the other end of the transmission. "I managed to spot the guy last night, and tailed him across the city. He ducked into a run down apartment building in a pretty bad area, and I got close enough to catch a glimpse of him through the window. Bruce, he... He's just a kid."

The comparative size of the figure in the handful of photos had already led Batman to suspect that, but hearing the worry in Ollie's voice was disconcerting.

"Maybe not as small as Robin, but definitely younger than Batgirl. And, he's gotten a costume, a bow, even made his own trick arrows! A teenager in the slums, for crying out loud!"

"Impressive."

"Yeah... Yeah, I thought so. And he's been doing a decent job, too. Crooks that would have had the luck to get by me scot-free can't make it past him. But, Bruce, I'm afraid he might try bigger stuff, get in over his head - I've got enough to deal with in this city without worrying that a kid copying me is going to get himself killed."

"So, you called me, who's had both a teen and a kid make their own uniforms and force their way into being my partners, for advice on how to get this boy to stop." If it weren't so serious, Bruce might have chuckled at the irony.

"Um, yes?"

"Hmph. Do you at least have a name for this kid?" The silence gave Bruce the fun image of Ollie staring blankly ahead with his mouth hanging open in dismay.

"... No, but I've got the address of the apartment he went into."

"Send it to me, I'll see what I can find out about him."

"Thanks, Bruce-"

"Don't thank me yet. As soon as we know something about him, I'm making you at least talk to the kid."

"-Excuse me?"

"Ollie, I _will_ come to Star City if necessary. Forcing this boy out will mean approaching him. More than that, if you might consider actually working with him."

And on that note, Bruce had the satisfaction of hanging up on a startled Oliver.


	2. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 2

"Are we going out on patrol after dinner or do you want to go back to sitting in front of the computer for a few hours first?" Dick asked as he slid into the kitchen in sock feet. Bruce chuckled while Alfred raised a solitary eyebrow at the boy's energy.

"We'll be in the Cave until Barbara arrives; then the three of us will head out together."

"Sweet! Is it just me, or have you been alternating between us this last week or two?"

"Considering you both seem to keep swapping each night with who's swamped with homework, yes." Rolling his eyes, the eleven-year-old hopped up onto the counter beside where Bruce was pouring over an old looking document.

"I thought you were looking through _recent _Star City stuff for this copycat archer dude. That thing has to be at least a few years old."

"Four." Bruce said absently. "It's a listing of leases on the apartments in the building that Ollie saw his fan go into. There hasn't been a current one in quite a while; since the entire structure is in deteriorating condition I'm guessing the owner doesn't care about or want to admit to people still living in it."

"That stinks." A nod of agreement was given, before Alfred announced that their dinner was served, and both of them moved to the dining room - Dick doing a cartwheel along the way as Bruce smiled and tucked the document into his pants pocket.

Afterwards, the two descended to the Batcave and changed into Batman and Robin. The boy started doing flips and other acrobatics as his mentor sat at the computer again. They were there for about fifteen minutes before the elevator doors opened again, and Barbara stepped out.

"Have you guys seen the news?" She asked excitedly, cutting off greetings from the pair.

"What news?" Robin popped up from a somersault to stand beside her, curious.

"From Star! Quick, boss bat, turn it on!" Batman was already bringing up the feed. A news caster was crouched behind a fallen telephone pole, his back to a building where flashes and flurries of movement could be made out on the roof.

"-cannot tell at this time if the archers are involved in a three-way battle, or if Green Arrow and the Shadow Archer are working together to bring down Merlyn-"

Batman's eyes narrowed at the trio of names. Merlyn he'd heard of: Ollie had complained bitterly about the man a few times, as their bowmanship was near parallel but the assassin usually came out ahead in their battles due to his greater hand-to-hand combat prowess. The Shadow Archer was also the name the media had assigned to Arrow's fan, still unable to get a decent picture or report about him.

"If this isn't a perfect catalyst to get them to consider a partnership, I don't know what is." Barbara said smugly even as she hurried to the changing area.

"Although, knowing G.A., he might just say hi and wave before taking off." Robin muttered. He shot his mentor a sly look. "Maybe we should fly over the Star to keep an eye on them?"

Batman knew the kid just wanted an excuse to get out of Gotham for a little while. The city had been quiet lately, and Robin was itching for something new to get his mind off of his boredom. When Batgirl returned, she wholeheartedly agreed, and both of them turned the pleading stares towards the man sitting at the computer console. He deliberately avoided the pair of begging gazes, but managed to recall his threat the Ollie about going to Star City and forcing the two crimefighters to talk.

After a moment, Batman sighed. And nodded.

"YES!" Chorusing their enthusiasm, his partners took off for the lower level hanger where the Batwing sat. He followed a bit more slowly, leaving a message for Alfred to inform him of where they'd be going. When Batman did drop down to the hanger floor, the plane's engines had already been started up, and Batgirl and Robin were complaining at him for moving so slowly. Hiding a smirk, he leaped up and into the pilot's seat, sealed the hatch, and activated the controls.

A few exhilarating moments later, and the Batwing was airborne and zooming out above Gotham. The trio did a quick sweep of the city, just in case there was anything obviously out of place or in process of being blown up, but all seemed quiet. Once their circuit was complete, Batman turned in the direction of Star and took them to a cruising altitude above the clouds.

"Hey, quick question," Robin spoke up after a few minutes. "Are we going to call ahead and warn Arrow we're coming?" For his answer, Batman merely had to glance back over his shoulder and widen one eye. Smirking and leaning back in his seat, the boy began to envision the startled look the Emerald archer would have when they dropped in on him.

Something rather similar to that dreamed-of expression crossed his own features, though, when they picked up an incoming transmission from said archer, on the Justice League emergency wavelength.

"That can't be good," Batgirl muttered, exchanging a glance with him as Batman answered the call.

"Arrow? What's-"

"I hope you weren't kidding about coming for a visit, Bats." A hacking cough ended the sentence, emphasizing how rough Green Arrow's voice sounded. "'Cause I could really use a hand here."

"What's your current location?" Batman asked swiftly.

"Juh-just off of East Ninth street, alleyway between O'Connor... And Main... Hoo boy, gotta keep movin', though..."

"Are you being followed?"

"Nah... At least, I sure hope not." He tried to chuckle, but it came out as another cough. "Merlyn- he got away. With help. B-brought some friends with him, this time... Wanted to lure out me... and the kid... See if we, were really, working together..."

"Were you? I saw some of the news feed - enough to known the three of you were all on the same rooftop."

"Eh, not... Not especially..."

"Maybe if the two of you did, you wouldn't be in this kind of mess so often."

"That's not helpful," Green Arrow growled. In the Batwing, Robin and Batgirl fought desperately to contain their giggles, knowing the seriousness of the situation.

"It's not supposed to be." Batman supplied. "But you still need to consider-"

"Hold on a sec, Bats, I - I think I, heard something." All three crimefighters in the plane waited silently until the archer returned. "... Nevermind. Now, what were, we saying? Right, your unhelpful advi- Ahh!" A sudden sizzling was heard, followed by Arrow's sharp yell of pain.

"Arrow? Green Arrow!" They all caught the distinctive whack of the comm. unit being dropped to the ground, followed by the slightly softer whump of a body landing beside it. A few muffled voices could be heard, thumps from something being moved, and then a large vehicle's engine starting up before being driven away.

"I gonna take a wild guess here and say somebody grabbed him." Batgirl remarked dryly, trying to keep a neutral expression on her face. Robin was bothering with no such pretense - his worry was plain to see.

Batman was about to open his mouth to calm both of them when a new sound was picked up by the comm. link: light footsteps, coming closer. A slight rustling, and then a hesitant voice spoke.

"H-hello?"

A hand held up by Batman warned both his partners not to speak. "Hello."

"Whoa. This thing really does work." The voice, sounding like a male teen, had a faintly impressed tone. "Glad to see he wasn't just talking to himself."

"Did you see what happened to Green Arrow?" Batman asked carefully.

"Y-yeah. Bunch a people in ninja costumes came out of nowhere. I think four or five of them zapped him with some kind of electrified staff all at once." In their seats, both younger crimefighters winced in sympathy. "Then they pulled off his bow and quiver, dropped those, and dragged him into a van. Some left with it; the others just went and vanished into the shadows. Um... I probably should have asked sooner, but who is this?"

"Batman."

"_Holy sh-!_" Several rapid rustles and whacks indicated the person speaking had nearly dropped the comm. and was struggling to regain hold of it. "Uh, I mean, okay."

"And I take it you're the Shadow Archer?" The gulp may not have been audible, but all three Gotham heroes could still tell it was taking place.

"Uh, yeah, that's... Well, that's what the papers call me."

"Do you have a name you'd prefer to go by?"

"... Not really. Now, um, I hate to be rude, but I kinda need to go save the Arrow before my tracer falls off the van."

Batgirl couldn't help but pantomime a whistle of admiration. The day after his conversation with Oliver about the young fan, Batman had given both her and Robin all the information as he learned it. They knew that this Shadow Archer lived in a poor area, didn't have much to work with - and yet he'd managed to cobble together a working tracking device?

Very impressive.

She jerked her mind back to the present as Batman continued speaking.

"-happen to be on our way to Star already. If you sit tight, we'll join you in rescuing Green Arrow."

"Ah, n-no offense, b-but I don't really f-feel comfortable working with a big name type-"

"Oh, he's not that bad!" Robin piped up, unable to stay silent a moment longer. Batman tried sending him a warning glare, but a slight squeak on the comm. line signaled that it was too late.

"Was- was that-"

"Robin, nice to meet you."

"And Batgirl, too." She shot both her partners, one grinning and one frowning, her own smirk. "Have we mentioned it would be nice to meet another young crimefighter in the making?"

Her words were met with stunned silence, and Robin winced in sudden worry.

"Nuts, you don't think we broke him, do you?"


	3. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 3

"_Nuts, you don't think we broke him, do you?"_ Gaping, it was all Roy could do to not drop the small device all over again. They were coming. They were speaking to him. _The_ Batman. _The_ Robin. _The _Batgirl. He couldn't even wrap his head around it.

Sure, Roy had spent a couple years admiring, and figuring out how to be like, Green Arrow, Star City's home-grown crimefighter and superhero. But these were the Bats of Gotham! Not just one of the first big-name capes, but his teenage partners too - both of whom were partially responsible for Roy to make the decision and step into the world of crimefighting on his own two feet.

_And they were coming to... to..._

Talk to him? Work with him? Knock out, tie up and drop him off with youth services?

"Oh, boy," Roy breathed, trying to derail that train of thought. He really needed to try and focus right now.

"_Are you still there, Archer?"_ The deep voice came again from the device in his hand. Roy started to nod, then mentally smacked himself.

"Y-yeah, I'm still h-here. That just, kinda, threw me for a loop, I guess."

"_Well, if that's the case, you're already taking it better than a lot of other people." _Batgirl's age was a little tricky to pin down from her voice, which sounded like it was somewhere in the transition from to teen to adult - encouraging. Although, the high-pitched snicker reminded him that Robin was definitely younger. And Roy had next to no experience dealing with kids - he could hardly stand to be around 'em.

"Listen, I'd love to stick around and chat, but I've really got to go save Green Arrow." As soon as his mind was back to the problem at hand, Roy's voice regained some of his usual confidence, and lost the stupid stuttering he got whenever nervous.

"_... How accurate is your tracer?"_ Blinking, Roy reached for the makeshift console attached to the bottom of his quiver. When turned on, the tracker would beep louder when it was pointed in the same direction as the transmitter arrowhead, and more frequently the closer he got to it. Maybe not the most precise thing in the world, but it would get him within a few yards of the arrow without too much difficulty.

"Pretty good. I haven't got the time to start trying to transfer the signal to you, but maybe when I find those ninja's I can shoot up a flare, or-"

"_Just keep this comm. unit with you and turned on. We can follow it to within a foot of your position."_

Apparently, that was at the high-end for precision trackers. Roy wasn't sure whether his few yards of leeway should seem impressive or paltry by comparison.

"Okay, just- just don't slow me up or anything." Getting his feet to move was easy, though Roy couldn't help but mentally kick himself over the lame instruction. These were some of the longest-running crimefighters around - and he had seriously just told them not to slow _him_ down?

Some days, Roy just wished he could rewind time a few seconds and stop himself from saying the really dumb things that leaked out.


	4. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 4

"So, how do we know this kid isn't working with whoever snatched GA?" Batgirl asked, leaning over the back of her mentor's seat. Still focused on guiding the plane after the moving signal sent from the League comm. unit, Batman only took a bare moment to answer her.

"We don't."

"Oh _that's_ reassuring." She sat back with a huff. Robin snickered at her disgusted expression.

"Well, to be fair, if he was a bad guy, there really wasn't any reason to pick up the comm-"

"Unless he's leading us away from where the ninjas took Arrow."

"Okay, but come on - you heard that kid's voice when he was talking. Did he really sound like the fast-thinking double agent type?" Batgirl opened her mouth to reply, but thought back to the ridiculous stutters, as well as his shocked silence when she and Rob had spoken up over the transmission line. She could easily picture him as on level with some of the more nervous nerds at her school, but as a helper of ninja fighters? Not so much.

"Fine." Robin quirked an eyebrow at her sudden reversal. "But if this turns out to be a trap, I'm getting all your portions of Alfred's late night desserts for a week."

He grinned. "Done."

"Heads up, you two." Batman called their attentions back. "We're here." He was guiding the Batwing down onto the roof of a darkened office building, right at the edge of the business and industrial areas. At the edge of structure, the figure of the mysterious Shadow Archer was just finishing his climb up an arrow-launched cable.

Robin was, of course, the first one out, landing first on his hands before flipping up to his feet in front of the startled figure. Batgirl followed a bit more solemnly while Batman finished locking up the plane, and took a moment to study the hero-gig-newcomer.

He wore a red hoodie that was too large for him; even being secured by a belt around his waist, the bottom extended down to mid-thigh. The sleeves had been torn off at the shoulder, revealing a tight black t-shirt and strips of what looked like dark leather wrapped down the lengths of his forearms. Black combat boots and dark grey cargo pants patched with a mixture of cloth scraps and duct tape covered his legs and feet, while a long piece of red cloth around his head underneath the hood, with eye holes cut out, served as his mask. Over his shoulders, the teen had both his own plain looking quiver and bow as well as the more stylized ones removed from Green Arrow.

Batgirl also couldn't help but notice that while the vigilante sounded young, he was pretty tall for his age, and looked like he'd been a fighter for a number of years, if the defined muscles and defensive posture were anything to go by.

Robin either took all of that in faster than she did, or else was completely ignoring it, as he'd already introduced himself and started asking the awed newcomer where his tracker was pointing too. Granted, the both of them were taken aback by the ancient-looking piece of tech the teen brought out, and the beeping noises it made.

"It should be in the building just over there." He said quietly, pointing to a shipping center across the street from their position, and several stories shorter. Batman dropped silently down from the Batwing, taking in both the teen and the target.

A few seconds later, he turned with a sweep of the cape, and faced the nervous vigilante face on.

"This is where you need to make a decision, Archer." He spoke with the inspire-fear-in-the-hearts-of-villains voice, which Batgirl found a tad unnecessary.

"W-what decision?"

"Whether or not you really want to get immersed in this life, and come with us, or stick to your playing hero and leave. We don't know how many or how serious the opponents in that building are, and you'd be risking a lot by coming in. Not to mention, we've been cutting you some slack up until this point; joining means we'll be looking at you a lot more closely after this is all over."

Despite his paled skin and nervous expression, Batgirl was impressed when the teen didn't shake or gulp. Instead, he carefully raised his eyes to meet those of Batman's, and nodded once. Without another word, the Dark Knight returned to scoping out their target.

"Robin, you and I will head around to the rear entrance and slip in that way. Batgirl, I want you and Shadow here to enter through that skylight; observe the interior, find a good sniper position for him, then be ready to join us in the fight." A noise of affirmative from her was enough to send him on his way, Robin a second later. Batgirl shifted to eye the blinking teen next to her.

"Ready to move, or do you want another minute to process that you just agreed to work with the Batman of Gotham?" She teased. At least, she meant to tease - the implications of what he'd just done still seemed to be sinking in for the kid. He let out a rather undignified squeak, and when she snickered, his face turned the same shade of red as his hoodie.

"Let's, um, let's just go." The teen muttered, reaching for another of his cable arrows. Internally, Batgirl kept laughing all the way to the skylight they snuck in through.


	5. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 5

Picking the lock on the skylight had been easy; getting the Shadow Archer and his two sets of weaponry inside and into the shadows of the perimeter catwalk took a bit of doing, but Batgirl managed. She whispered for him to stay put, then started sneaking around the walkway in the direction that Batman said he and Robin would be coming from.

Sudden voices below caught her attention and made the teen freeze in place.

A group of ninjas in back jumpsuits came around the corner of a massive conveyor belt - and two were dragging a limp Green Arrow between them, arms cuffed behind his back. Batgirl had to force herself to stay put as the group approached the center of the room. The ones holding the GA dropped him, then all the ninjas spread out into a wide circle around his prone form.

Then a man with a similar style of clothing, but a quiver of black arrows over one shoulder and a curved bow in hand emerged from the shadows almost directly below her. The hand not carrying his weapon held the handle and edge of a large bucket, which he raised while approaching Arrow. Tensing, Batgirl was ready to pull out one of her projectiles to launch at him before registering just what was in the container.

When he reached Green Arrow, the man upended the bucket of ice water over him.

Jerking with startled spasms and sputters, the vigilante turned an incredulous eye up at his adversary, who smirked smugly.

"Come now, Arrow, you didn't think I'd be so mundane as to awaken you with smelling salts, now did you?"

"G-go, jump in, the river, Merlyn _*cough*_ s-see, how much, you _*cough*_ like it." Apparently, even in his current predicament, Green Arrow couldn't find it in himself to stop spitting out insults. Merlyn tutted, tossing the now empty bucket off to one side. Then Batgirl felt a shudder as he plucked an arrow with a razor edge from his quiver, and started poking at GA with it.

"Ah... So, it's gonna be, torture, and then death, right?" Arrow couldn't help but ask, gradually getting his breath back but still shivering from the cold water and wheezing a bit now and then. Chuckling cruelly, Merlyn jabbed his arrowhead in a little bit harder, trying to get a flinch out of the downed hero.

"Well, torture certainly, I do need so form of entertainment until your little admirer shows up."

Green Arrow went abruptly still. Then he growled in a near perfect imitation of Batman. "You leave that kid out of this, Merlyn. He doesn't have anything to do with me."

Now the assassin threw back his head and laughed outright. "Oh, _of course,_ an impressionable young boy running around Star City, fighting criminals with a bow and arrow, doesn't have _anything _to do with your influence."

He moved slightly, to be better able to peer down at GA's masked eyes. As Merlyn continued to speak, the ninjas in the circle slowly faded back into the shadows, and Batgirl had a bad premonition flit through her mind."The only thing I'm truly wondering is how much the boy takes after you in regards to arrogance. If, for example, he will arrive and burst through the doors without thinking, believing he can fight and take down my men and I single-handedly, as you have in the past. Or, perhaps, he might have already tracked you here, and is biding his time to attack."

Sure enough, in the darkness to her left, Batgirl saw a flicker of movement indicating that at least one ninja had climbed up to the catwalk to search for intruders. Unfortunately for them, a Bat of Gotham was a little harder to sneak up on than the average person. When the black-clad man reached the place she'd been hiding, there was no sign of Batgirl - but as he began to creep by, she dropped down from the rafters above, and silently knocked him out. Letting the ninja down gently to muffle any noise of impact, she quickly began to move back to the teen Archer's position, in case he couldn't dispatch any ninjas as quietly as her.

It seemed that would be the case, as a few moments later, muffled shouts and an explosion rang out from the catwalk ahead of her. Painful shrieks of stretched and protesting metal grated against her ears, and Batgirl watched with horror as the entire section of the walkway dropped to the concrete floor below. Three ninjas leapt clear as it landed with a spectacular _slam_ of sound and wreckage, causing the entire building to tremble a bit.

When the dust settled, the only sound to be heard was the steady clap of Merlyn's exaggerated footsteps as he approached the collapsed catwalk. After a long moment of peering around, he leaned over something Batgirl couldn't see from her position.

"Hello, boy."

She closed her eyes briefly, detecting the quiet mumble of whatever the teen said in response. Then Merlyn chuckled and called out to taunt the horror-stricken Green Arrow, who hadn't moved since the commotion.

"It seems his talent for insults is on the same level as yours, Arrow." And with that, Merlyn reached forward, and dragged the young Archer out by the hood of his jacket. Batgirl's frown deepened as she took in the position of his arms, wrapped tightly around the kid's midsection, as well as the trickle of blood visible through a tear in his right pants' leg. His own bow was gone, but the Archer still had both his and GA's quivers, as well as the green longbow secured to them.

As soon as he had the new captive clear of the wreckage, Merlyn dropped him with a thud, and turned back to his old enemy, not bothering to remove the teen's weapons.

"Nothing to do with you, eh, Arrow? Were you perhaps trying to convince me, or yourself with that line?"


	6. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 6

"Were you perhaps trying to convince me, or yourself with that line?" Roy grit his teeth, trying to ignore both the physical pain of his injuries and the emotional drop he felt at hearing that. Nice to know where he stood with his idol, at least.

When the ninjas had appeared out of the shadows on the catwalk, Roy's bow already had an explosive-tipped arrow nocked and ready. The attacks had come quickly enough he didn't have to aim before he fired, then immediately had to jump to the side before he was caught in the explosion. Even so, he's been slammed first into the wall by the shockwave, then had the air knocked out of him by crashing to the ground floor. Roy wasn't sure when he'd gotten the long gash down his shin - all he knew was that it burned and throbbed worse with every passing minute. Adding that to the general ache of his ribs, and it was a wonder the teen was still awake and coherent.

Though he might not be for much longer, Roy realized, stifling another groan as the jerk in black and purple lightly kicked his wounded leg.

"Now see what your influence has done, Arrow. Everything that happens to this boy now is upon _your head._" Merlyn snarled, pressing his heel more sharply against Roy's gash. The teen couldn't help letting out a hiss of pain, and when he glanced over at the adult hero still lying in the middle of the open floor, the man was watching him with a mixture of fear and anger.

Roy turned his gaze back to the assassin standing over him. "Hey, jerk-face."

Merlyn looked down with an annoyed expression.

"Why don't you go jump in a septic tank? I'm sure there's plenty around this dump of a hideout to chose from." Grinning now, Roy's cheer at turning the villain's face red was doubled at Green Arrow's chuckle, strained as it was.

"Guess the kid's even quicker on the draw than me when it comes to words, eh, Lynny?" Now Merlyn directed his glare towards the hero for the use of such a ridiculous nickname. He reached down and grabbed a fistful of Roy's coppery hair, then proceeded to drag the struggling teen over to Arrow.

"I'm glad you two can laugh now," Merlyn ground out at them, dropping his captive and planting a foot onto his strained midsection. "Because there will be nothing but screams, later." He turned with a flourish, calling out orders to the ninjas, getting them ready to depart with the pair of captured archers.

"You okay, kid?" Arrow asked quietly, voice filled with concern.

Roy winced as he took in a shaky breath. "Y-yeah. Sore, but 'm fine."

"Good. Now, what were you thinking, coming in here to take them on?!"

"Don't yell-"

"I'm whisper-yelling!"

"Well, fine, but don't _whisper-yell_ at me. It was your crazy friends who got me into this mess, and they better be the ones to get us out of it."

"What crazy friends?"

The words had barely left Green Arrow's mouth when several small explosions went off around the far side of the nearest conveyor belt, followed immediately by the cries of at least half a dozen ninjas. Smoke started to spill out into the area where the pair of archers lay, and through it, Roy could make out the flickers of motion from two slim forms taking down the black-clad assassins. Hearing a curse, the teen craned his neck around just in time to see Merlyn, running back towards them, tackled to the ground by the dark shape that was Batman.

"Oh. Those friends." Arrow muttered beside him. "I should have known..." Roy ignored him in favor of the pain in his ribs, which magnified as the teen uncurled himself enough to seize an arrow from his quiver. The green longbow was about to come loose from its ties, so he grabbed it with his other hand.

"Think my arrowhead can cut through your cuffs there?" He asked, pushing himself to his knees, ignoring the fresh blood that continued to seep into his pants leg. The man copied his movement, though with a bit more trouble, as the cuffs in question still had his arms trapped behind his back.

"Uh... I doubt it. Might try one of mine, though." Green Arrow jerked his chin at the second quiver hanging from Roy's shoulder, but a sudden grunt caused both archers to glance up in surprise.

Batman was rising to his feet a little ways to their right, the scowl on his face even deeper than earlier (if that was possible). Moments later, Merlyn emerged from the growing cloud of smoke, an arrow nocked and pointed straight at the Dark Knight.

"Now, isn't this a treat." The villain rumbled, cocky smirk still in place. "I'd been planning on ridding myself of the Green Amateur and his brat, but now, I can do the world a service by removing the Bat of Gotham himself."

"Hey!" Both Arrow and Roy protested angrily together.

"You seem awfully sure of yourself," Batman returned, ignoring the indignant archers. "Especially for someone who isn't going to have time to fire more than one arrow." Merlyn's eyes flickered to the shadows around him, where the sounds of combat between his followers and the Bat's partners had ceased. To his dismay, it was the pair of young heroes who emerged into the open air, their smiles and attack-ready positions making it all too clear who had won.

"Then I'll gladly take my consolation prize!" Confident facade gone in an instant, the assassin's words came out in a grim snarl. He shifted his stance and fired just before the weapons of Batgirl and Robin took him down.

Roy's eyes widened as the black arrow was released. Without thinking, he fitted his own arrow to the bow in his hands, brought it up and released in a split second. The plain projectile whistled away, striking the villain's bolt mid-flight, and sabotaging its intended course into Green Arrow's chest.

A moment of stunned silence prevailed over the floor, broken when Arrow let out a relieved cackle.

"Now that was some speedy aiming!"


	7. Episode 1: A Speedy Shadow, Part 7

It took almost an hour to get the proper authorities over the the shipping center to gather up and take into the custody the secured assassins. In that time, not only had the trio of Bats pulled out GA and the Speedy Shadow, as Batgirl was now thinking of him, but given each some necessary medical attention on a nearby rooftop. Both had bruised ribs, Arrow's from his rough landing after the earlier battle downtown, Speedy's from the force of the explosion when he went up against some of the ninjas. Batman himself had set to cleaning out and then bandaging the long gash down the teen's leg, handing him a couple painkiller tablets while working. The younger archer accepted it all wordlessly, still lost in his thoughts over all that had happened that night.

Eventually, Batman's glare cut through Arrow's complaints over still being cold and wet. A nod towards the teen was enough to tell GA all he needed: go talk or else.

Also getting the message, Robin and Batgirl moved back a ways to give the archers some measure of privacy.

"Think he might actually ask Speedy to become his partner?" The college student asked in a whisper. Her younger partner raised an eyebrow at the name, but could only shrug in answer.

"It's the kid's choice." Robin replied simply. Batgirl couldn't help but smile and start to tease him over calling an obviously older teenager "kid".

Ignorant of the conversation behind them, Green Arrow was trying to figure how to phrase his words.

"Look, kid, much as I appreciate the save, I think we need to figure out if you really want to do this kind of life. I mean, you've just seen how dangerous it can be, and, well, I'd hate for you to not get off so lightly the next time some big-name crook comes to town."

The teen's face, which had been slightly hopeful a few moments ago, fell. "Oh."

"Don't get me wrong, you handled just as well as I would have, maybe better, but you're also just a kid. Teen. Sorry," He tried to backtrack, seeing the miffed expression. "You'd need a lot of practice- er, experience- no- training, to be able to go up against some of the guys I fight, all of which would put you in danger even if you did a good job."

"So, is this a talk to get me to drop the bow, or keep using it?"

"Um... Neither. What I mean is, being a hero is up to you. I don't want to influence your decision."

Staring at him with an unreadable expression, the teen slowly backed up from Arrow. "No offense, but that just tells me you don't care one way or the other." With that, he turned and jumped off the edge of the roof. Green Arrow started to hurry after him, at least until a metallic clang told the hero that the teen had landed on the fire escape.

"Arrow?" The sudden voice behind him made the archer stiffen, even as his mind firmly told his body that jumping in surprise at the intrusion of a Bat was undignified.

He turned his head slightly to glare at the man in black who was now right next to him. "What?"

Arching an eyebrow at the annoyed tone, Batman wordlessly crossed his arms and waited for an explanation.

"Oh come on, Bats, you knew I wasn't going to do a very good job with this."

"Doesn't mean you couldn't have done better than that." The Bat returned instantly.

"He's right, GA - what kind of talk were you even aiming for?" Robin piped up, moving closer with Batgirl. Sighing, the archer was unable to articulate a reply for them.

"Did you ever read the file I put together for you?" Batman asked suddenly. Arrow blinked at him.

"What file." The younger heroes started to snicker, unable to stop even in the face of their mentor's glare.

"We're going to your headquarters," He growled. "You will read the documents I gathered, figure out what you want to say to that boy, and then we'll be doing this the direct way."

Green Arrow gulped.

As usual, Roy started shedding his weapons and costume pieces as he made his way now the dingy, dimly lit stairwell. None of the building's other residents lived higher up than his apartment on the fourth floor, so there was no danger of running into anyone up here, especially in the middle of the day.

With a sigh, he unlocked the front door of his home, twisted the knob, and jammed his left shoulder against the dark wood to force it open past the sticking point. This left him in a widened entrance full of light from the apartment, hands full of gear, and still in mostly full costume as Roy registered that he was not alone.

Two men in expensive-looking suits were waiting for him. His first thought was that bruisers from some crime lord were here to rough him up, in which case his still sore ribs and weakened leg were going to be problematic. Not easily able to run, the teen took a few precious seconds to analyze the men.

One, with dark hair that matched his outer jacket and pants, stood closer to window, keeping his attention divided between Roy and the street below. The other, in warmer colors of brown and green, sat on a turned around chair, his crossed forearms resting on the back of it.

Shockingly, Roy recognized the second man, and as such, he couldn't force his legs to move, or even any words to come out of his gaping mouth.

"Hi there. Roy Harper, right? My name's Oliver Queen." The guy reached out a hand to shake, but then thought better of it as he caught sight of Roy's full arms. "You need a hand with all that?"

"Uh..." Blinking, the teen glanced down as his obvious crimefighter gear, and wondered why this, this- _billionaire_ wasn't freaking out. Come to think of it, why the heck was Oliver Queen even in his home at all? And _how _did he get in, for that matter?

Roy didn't realize these questions were actually coming out of his mouth as he thought of them, at least not until Mr. Queen chuckled and started answering.

"First off, we broke in, but didn't damage anything, so you don't have to worry on that score. Second, I came because it would be pretty much impossible to meet you any other way."

"Meet... Meet _me?!_" Roy would normally hate himself for sounding so squeaky, but right now he had other concerns. "_Why?_"

"I think you can answer that one for yourself, Speedy." Mr. Queen looked meaningfully at the costume Roy was still wearing, and while the teen tried to register what the man had just called him, he moved to close the door behind them.

"Figured it out yet?" He asked cheerfully, taking Roy's elbow and leading the flabbergasted boy over to his sagging sofa.

"Y-you- I mean, you can't be- that, that isn't-"

"Just start explaining to him already, Ollie." The dark haired man by the window said sternly, bringing up yet another odd connection in Roy's mind to the night before. These two men weren't... They couldn't be...

Setting down his stuff next to him, Roy had his attention grabbed by Mr. Queen who, dragging over the chair he'd been in previously, began to tell an amazing story: a lazy rich-boy, a villain out for revenge, becoming a castaway on an abandoned island. Learning to shoot a bow, to survive; getting rescued, and deciding to become a hero. It all sounded too incredible, forcing Roy to take a few minutes after the story ended just to absorb it all.

"So... If you meant it when you said being a hero was up to me, why are you here now?" He finally asked. Mr. Queen opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by a file folder being slapped down next to Roy. Stifling the sudden impulse to flinch, the teen flipped it open - and froze.

It was a file on him.

A few documents on his parents, a copy of his birth certificate, early school records, excellent report cards giving way to papers from juvie hall, hospital bills, and finally...

"It's clear you've been taking care of yourself for a long time, Roy, even before your folks passed away." Mr. Queen said softly as the other man retreated back to his original spot. "And while I admire the independent streak your alter-ego has maintained, a fifteen year old shouldn't be on his own out here." About to declare hotly that he'd been doing just fine, the teen was barely able to swallow his response as Queen continued, "You've got no reason to trust me, I suppose, but after our work together last night, I'm convinced you can do a lot better with the right resources. I mean, you managed to craft arrows almost as good as mine with an awful lot less to work with. So, I came here, to both admit that I know your name, and to give you mine - and ask if you'd be willing to step back into the legal system to let me take you in as a foster son."

"You- what?"

"It would be completely up to you, but that way we could work together a lot more easily, as well as give you a steady home, maybe get back into school-"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. As- as much as I appreciate the offer, Mr. Queen, you can't just expect me to-"

"Ollie."

"Huh?"

"I'd rather you call me Ollie." Grinning sheepishly, he ran a hand back through his tousled blond hair. "Mr. Queen is for people that don't know me, Oliver for those who think they do- and Ollie for those I'm really close to."

And just like that, something in Roy's chest felt lighter. Someone... To be close to. He couldn't remember the last time there'd been someone like that in his life.

It sounded nice.

Off by the window, Bruce couldn't help but feel pleased as Roy gave Ollie a tentative nod of acceptance. With luck, the pair of archers could figure out a new normal soon, though if his past experiences with Barbara and Dick were anything to go by, things would be rough going for at least a week or two.

Bruce just hoped Ollie wouldn't be continually calling him for advice.


	8. Author's Interlude 1

Author's Interlude

Well, this concludes the first episode of my storyline (I hope you all enjoyed it!). I decided to submit the last entry a bit earlier than usual, just so I could stick in this explanation:

There are (at the moment) sixteen more planned episodes, and I'll probably be brainstorming even more in the future. I'll be continuing to post them here, in chunks, with one update a weekend, maybe more than that if it's a special occasion. Most likely, as time goes on and I get more involved with other projects, there will be breaks in between episodes, when I've finished one and need some time before starting the next.

So, now Roy is on his way to being an official Partner, the first of several. The next few episodes will also be introducing new individuals, but he'll be back around eventually - and we'll get to see just how the relationship between archers develops, as well as how Roy gets to interact with his fellow Partners.

So long!

-Triscribe

Next Episode: Doubled Sided


	9. Episode 2: Double Sided, Part 1

Emerging from the decrepit establishment known as the Layman's Club and Bar, Commissioner Gordon took a moment to observe his officers, about half of whom were returning to their squad cars in order to get out of the biting wind. Winter had come early to Gotham City, and even the thick jumpsuit-like uniforms of the police department did little to keep out the cold.

Sighing, the man adjusted his scarf and stepped around to the alley that ran around and behind the building. This was the fourth occasion he and his people had tried to clear out a nest of suspected criminal activity, only to strike out. The owners and managers of Gotham's sprawl of clubs, casinos and similar establishments had gotten smarter in their servicing the city's massive assortment of law-breakers. Secret rooms and passages, a warning network of some kind, and other tricks that served to help criminals slip away under the police force's collective nose had become the new normal.

And it was possibly the most infuriating thing he's dealt with since curbing Chief Rojas' exuberance for taking down the Batman.

Speaking of whom...

Not even a full minute after Gordon stepped into the shadows of the alley, a particularly large and black one separated from the masses to approach him.

"No luck?" Batman asked, though the Commissioner highly suspected he already knew the answer to that question.

"None. Back room held a bunch chairs in a semicircle around a map on the wall, by the occupants were all gone by the time we got past the main area. I've got my men searching for a hidden panel or trapdoor right now.

"Even if they find one, it won't do much good in the long run." The Dark Knight mused, his eyes narrowing. "We need to infiltrate their alarm network, sabotage it if possible."

"You mean getting someone on the inside? It could take months, if not longer, to have an infiltrator become trusted enough to learn that kind of information-"

"No, I mean getting someone already within the system to tell us how it works." Ignoring Gordon's skeptical look, Batman pulled out one of his Bat-wave's and selected a list he'd been compiling. He showed it to the Commissioner, whose expression turned thoughtful.

"Alright... Let me know if you have any luck, okay?" Nodding, Batman turned to go, but Gordon had one last question on his mind. "Where are your partners, if you don't mind me asking?"

There was a considerable pause before he was answered. "Batgirl has an assignment on the other side of town. Robin is staying home until his new polar suit is finished."

"Oh, good. I don't mind saying, I was a little concerned about the kid and his short sleeves being out in this."

"His new uniform will still have them, but include thermal heating in the fabric."

Gordon blinked. "Huh. I'll have to remember that for _our_ uniforms at the next budget meeting."

"I'd suggest talking to Wayne Industries, then - their tech is the safest of what's available." Batman couldn't help but mention. Then he was gone again into the darkness.

"Get outta here, ya lousy two-faced cheat!" A man came tumbling out of the club, his previously carefully stacked deck of cards scattered through the air after him.

"What about my money?!" He cried, struggling to get upright in the half-frozen slush. The bouncer in the doorway just laughed, nastily.

"After you tried t'scam these tables? It's my money now!" With that, the door slammed shut, taking the heat of the club's interior with it.

"Jerks." He muttered, already shivering from the wetness pervading his pants and jacket. Almost two grand would have been his, if that mobster hadn't pulled a final King - and exposed his own pair of extras.

Sighing, he started to grab what soaked cards he could, and didn't bother to try and chase down the ones caught by the wind. He'd have to lay low for a few days, before trying again, preferably in some clubs that hadn't caught wind of his reputation yet. Easier said than done, these days.

Not seeing anymore playing cards, he started shuffling towards the nearest alleyway to head back towards his ragged apartment. The instant he stepped into the shadows, though, an eerie feeling on the back of his neck warned that it was a bad idea. Quickly, he turned around to retrace his steps, only for someone to grab the back of his sodden jacket and drag him off of his feet.

"Hey-" The business end of a revolver shoved in his face cut off any more noise he might have made.

"Valuables, punk. Now."

"Buddy, if I had 'em, I'd give 'em." He answered honestly. The man holding the gun snarled and pushed him further down the alley.

"You don't have cash, you gotta pay some way." Gulping, he tried to ignore the fear and, dare he say it, _anger_ welling up inside.

"Look, what if I promised to bring you-"

"Oh, no, I know how that works. You run off and don't come back, of worse!"

"Worse wouldn't happen to include us, would it?" A young voice called out, and suddenly there was a rather large shadow landing behind the mugger. The gun held to his face was knocked away by something fast moving and red, while the man himself received a knockout punch to the jaw.

"You okay there, Mister?" Turning, he tried not to become slack-jawed at the sight of the kid who now stood beside him. The Bird might be one of Gotham's trio of dark protectors, but the pipsqueak didn't look like he could be more than ten years old!

But speaking of dark protectors...

Batman, THE Batman, stood up from cuffing the unconscious mugger and approached him. Swallowing back the awe, he tried to stammer out a thank you.

"I-if you h-hadn't g-gotten here, th-then I'd be-"

"Don't think about it." The Dark Knight interjected.

"Yeah, this was your lucky day, after all!" His brightly colored partner grinned.

"Well, um, y-you ever need a favor, just let me know, okay?" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, back the way he'd come. "I-I mean, I get kicked out more often than not, but y-you guys have been going after the Circuit lately, right?"

The Bat's eyes narrowed while he spoke. "The Circuit?"

"Y-yeah, all the joints that are friendly to the crooks in this town. Like, Greene's back there, they got a private room in the back that the big names like to use whenever they're gonna work together on something. And the Berkman Parlor, they've got a sub-basement that connects to the old subway system, for moving goods or just providing a place for folks on the run to crash for a couple nights."

While he babbled on, Batman and Robin exchanged an unreadable glance. Finally, the Dark Knight held up a hand to slow him down, while the kid stepped away and pulled some fancy gadget out of his belt.

"Look, Mister-"

"Dent, Harvey Dent."

"... Mr. Dent, do you know details like this about all the establishments on the Circuit?"

"Oh, sure, I've been working tables and private games at a lot of these clubs for a long time now, and I see the stuff they usually prefer not to get out, right? Anything you need to know, I'll see about getting, okay?"

Robin came back over as the Bat asked his next question. "Why are you so willing to tell us?"

He shrugged sheepishly. Harvey couldn't really explain the sudden desire to help out, but it may have been the relief at not getting shot that was doing all the talking.

"Hey, one good turn deserves another, right? And besides, I've been lucky so far, haven't been around whenever you or the cops have come in to shake a place down. But, if I can help you out, it hedges my bets for avoiding being in a crossfire."

"Makes sense to me." Robin the mentioned as bright lights and a deep rumbling came around the corner. Shielding his eyes, Harvey wasn't expecting the Bat to step away, then return with a thick blanket in one hand and a high tech little box in the other. With a shield from the cold now wrapped tightly around himself, the new informant paid close attention as Batman explained how to use the communications device.

"Any information you send will come straight to me, in the form of typed messages or verbal. I'd also like to pass your name to Commissioner Gordon, just in case the Bat-wave ever breaks and you need to get in touch with me."

He couldn't hide his wince. "Ah, ok, if you have to. I've run into the Commish's boys a few times; can't say they like me very much. But- I said I'd help, and I will." The Bat nodded as Robin grinned even wider. When the two went to jump into their fancy car, taking the limp mugger with them, Harvey thought to ask one last thing.

"Hey! This doo-dad's got some kind of tracker in it, right?"

"Yes. Is that a problem for you?"

"Naw, it's a good thing! I ever get found out by some mooks who don't like my talking to you, I expect a quick rescue, alright?"

"Of course."

"See ya around, Harv!"

And with that, they were gone. Harvey started walking slowly in the direction of his apartment, considering just how fast his luck had changed. It was almost like fate had flipped a coin, just for him.

"Can we head back to the Cave after we drop this thug off and talk to Gordon?" Robin asked as they drove. "It's freezing out here, even with the extra stuff Alfred put in my costume."

"One more patrol first." Batman answered, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "I doubt Dent's the only person who'll be too busy trying to get home in this weather to pay attention to common sense."

"Hm. We sure got lucky, didn't we?"

"If you mean in finding Harvey Dent before he got himself killed, then yes."

Behind his mask, Robin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I _meant_ with him volunteering to bring us dirt on the clubs even before we got the chance to ask."

After a moment, Batman nodded wordlessly. Dent's name had been rather close to the top of the list of possible informants he'd presented to the Commissioner the night before. The man was barely above the level of a nobody in the clubs - he had enough skill at being a card shark to get in, but not so much that criminals were willing to waste their resources to kill him. A recent string of bad luck had been setting him at odds with club owners lately, as well, creating someone with a good motive for spilling their secrets.

Such a man was also a likely candidate for selling out Batman, though, so they'd have to be extra careful with any information he did send to them. The specialized communicator he'd given Dent had more security measures than Robin thought was necessary, but the Dark Knight wasn't willing to risk it falling into more evil hands and being used against him and his partners.

Things had gone well tonight, or lucky, as the eleven year old beside him was inclined to claim, but that wasn't good enough reason to drop his guard around their new informant just yet.


	10. Author's Interlude 2

Y'know, I'd been planning to do more with this episode, but distractions with my other stories have prompted me to hurry up and get towards material I've already written or worked on. I might end up going back and filling in, but for now, let's jump onwards and upwards to:

Episode 3: The Kryptonian Kid


	11. Episode 3: The Kryptonian Kid, Part 1

"Is Supes gonna show up today, or not?" Flash asked impatiently, pacing around the Watchtower's monitor hall. Once again, Batman was glad for the friction-resistant padding he'd insisted be installed. The floor would still be worn down by the speedster's incessant steps, but at least the process took longer than before.

"He said he'd try," J'onn answered amicably from his place by the control panel. "Whatever crashed near Metropolis last month has proven of great worth to study, or so his last message said."

"I still wonder what caught his attention." It was tricky to keep his voice devoid of the curiosity that powered the particular statement, but Batman managed. He always did. Lantern and Arrow both nodded in agreement, though their attention was suddenly caught by the elevator door sliding open to admit another of their number.

"Am I late?" Hawkman asked cheerfully, striding into the room.

"No, we're still debating whether or not to wait for Superman before we start." The Martian explained. Hawkman paused and looked at them in surprise.

"But he's downstairs." He said. Now all the assembled heroes were staring at their Thanagarian member. "Had this weird expression on his face, but told me to go on ahead of him, and make sure you were all here."

Batman's eyes narrowed, and Flash, having come to a stop beside the Dark Knight, took a subtle step back.

"Oh, really?" Still speaking in his usual monotone, the Bat's mere couple of words were enough to make the other heroes hope that their final teammate would have a very good excuse with him. When said teammate appeared in the doorway, they all noticed how awkwardly he was standing.

Cautiously peeking into the room, Superman took in all of their position's with a sweep of his nervous eyes.

"Uh... I hope you guys don't mind, but after spending all this time keeping you in the dark, I decided to share what's been keeping me so busy lately." The Kryptonian said with a sheepish grin.

"Would that be why you wanted all of us together in one place?" Batman asked sternly, not liking being unaware of what was going on around him.

"Well, ah... It seemed the best way to cut down on the number of times I need to explain what happened." Superman muttered.

All of the Leaguers stiffened at the tiny voice that spoke in a subdued tone. Twisting to glance behind him without moving, Superman responded gently in a language the others didn't recognize. The tiny voice replied a little more worry in it, causing him to sigh and turn to kneel.

Batman felt his eyes widen of their own accord at the sight of the little girl standing behind his teammate. Her short blond hair fell in a ragged curtain around her face, and her hands continually twisted the silvery fabric that formed the dress and cloak she wore. The girl repeated her words, glancing around the monitor hall with more than a little fear.

"English, Kara; you need to practice." Superman softly chided her. She took a moment to frown at him before responding.

"Are you _certain_ that these are friends?"


	12. Episode 3: The Kryptonian Kid, Part 2

"Explain, Kent." Batman growled, causing every other hero in the room to wince. Not only was the Dark Knight's tone terrifying, but his use of Superman's secret identity never boded well.

"Well, everyone, this is my cousin, Kara." Nervously, Superman stepped fully into the room, the little girl following with a firm grip on his cape. "She crash landed on Earth last month, just like I did as a baby." If anything, the kid shrunk in on herself even more at those words.

"Wait, so, she's another Kryptonian?" Green Arrow asked in confusion. "How's that even possible?"

Superman gave a half hearted chuckle. "Well, it's a little unclear, but there's no doubt about it." He would have gone on, but another glare from Batman stole the words away. With a slight jerk of the head, the Dark Knight signaled the other hero to come over for a private word.

"So, um, excuse me for a second, Kara. It's okay, I promise." Superman assured her, easily disentangling the girl's hand from his cape before stepping away. She didn't move, aside from hunching her shoulders and staring pensively at the other Leaguers.

"What were you thinking? How can you have 'no doubt' about this child?" Batman hissed once he and the Kryptonian stood several feet away. Both Superman and Kara frowned simultaneously at his words, despite neither being able to see the other's face.

"I know you think this wasn't a good idea, but trust me on this: she _is _my cousin. The spaceship she came in had a message from a man named Zor-el, who my own records from my Kryptonian parents said was my uncle-"

"Blood aside, Kent, where did she come from? Your original planet was destroyed over twenty-five years ago, with - supposedly - no other survivors aside from _you._ So _how_ did she come to land here _now?"_

While Batman chewed out his fellow hero, one of the others got over his bewilderment.

"Hi there, Kara. My name's Flash." The speedster knelt down and stuck out a hand. The kid blinked at it for a moment before tentatively reaching out her own. Just as her fingers curled for the shake, Superman turned around and caught sight of them.

"Wait a second, Fl-" His words were cut off by the _crack_, audible even to those without superhearing. Flash's face contorted in pain for a brief moment as he pulled the broken fingers out of Kara's frozen grip.

When the girl did find her voice again, it tumbled out fast and panicked. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to- I'm still trying- I just can't seem to-"

"Whoa, hey, kid, Kara, it's fine, I'm fine!" Speaking almost as fast as the anxious child in front of him, Flash held up his already-mending bones for her to see. "I heal pretty quick, okay? Another few hours, it'll be like nothing happened."

The display did little to sooth Kara's fright, though, and as her breathing continued to get faster, the room started getting colder.

"Kara!" Getting over his shock, Superman swiftly flew forward and scooped up the girl. "Easy, little one; you have super-breath, remember? Gotta take it slow." He spoke easily, softly - to Batman's ears it seemed the man was repeating something he'd had to be told before. Unfortunately, Kara's condition only worsened, and she started sobbing.

"Ev-ry-thi-ing, I, do, i-is, _dangerous!_" Her voice rose to a wail on this last word, and the girl buried her head in her hands, oblivious to Superman's arms wrapped around her.

"No, no, Kara, you just need more time, more practice." He tried to calm her down, to no avail. The smaller Kryptonian started shaking even harder, but when she raised her face to look up at Superman, her eyes were glowing red.

"I _told_ you I should be locked away! _I told you!_" Screaming now, laser beams shot out with the anger in Kara's words. Superman barely managed to jerk his head back in time to avoid being caught in them, but the Watchtower wasn't so lucky.

The lasers cut straight through the walls of the space station, releasing air and setting off several alarms. The sudden sirens and flashing lights caused Kara to jerk in fear, her heat vision slicing through more armored plating and into the control panels. J'onn tried to phase himself away from the damage, but an eruption of sparks and flame caught him anyway.

"Kent! Get your cousin under control!" Batman ordered, pulling out several pellets that were filled with a flame retardant. The other Leaguers hurried as well, trying to block the damage to the station and keep their artificial atmosphere from leaking away. Flash grabbed the groaning Martian and hurried him away to their medical bay as Batman started putting out the small fires.

Blinking in shock, Kara managed to turn off her heat vision, but Superman still moved her to one side of the room, out of the way.

"Can you- just, stay put?" He tried to ask. Kara nodded numbly, and watched as her cousin flew up and to the outer wall, using his own lasers to weld together the slashes she had made.

Seeing all the damage her new abilities caused... Within moments, Kara wobbled into the air, and took off out the door.

-C-

"So let me get this straight - while you all started freaking out and fixing the Watchtower, she slipped out the airlock _and none of you noticed?!_" Batgirl shook her head in disgust. "Some superheroes."

"Look," Batman growled, in a tone that had both her and Robin paying absolute attention. "What matters right now is that none of us can leave until all the systems are repaired and reset, which leaves the two of you to find this girl and keep her from doing anymore damage."

"Do... Do you want us to use the Kryptonite blaster?" Robin asked in a small voice. Knowing the trepidation behind it, Batman hesitated before answering.

"Take it with you, but only as a last resort. Kara's running scared, and while the blaster would be the most efficient way to stop her, I think you two have a decent chance at talking her down."

"Right. Any idea where we should start looking?"

"The last signal we were able to pick up before the sensor array caught fire indicating that she was heading for the North Pole."

"Why would- Oh, that Fortress place that Supes has set up, right?" Batman nodded to Robin's question. "So, um, how are we going to get there? The Batwing's still in the repair bay after Babs crashed it."

"I did not-! Ooh, nevermind. And don't call me Babs, Pixie-boots." The younger boy stuck a tongue out at her.

"Enough." Batman resisted the urge to sigh at his partners. "Go to the tech lab underneath Wayne Industries, and tell Lucius you need to use the Javelin prototype." That peaked both of their interests.

"What's the Javelin?"

"A new jet I've been designing for League use, capable of twice the speed of the Batwing and deep space travel. It's got the same basic controls - and as long as you stay within the atmosphere, you don't need to use anything else."

"Why are we only hearing about this now?" Batgirl demanded.

"Because I didn't want either of you sneaking it out for a joyride."

"Yeah, we've got jetpacks for that!" Robin still grinned in the face of his mentor's scowl.

"Just get going."

It wasn't until he cut the connection that Batman realized he hadn't specified how the two were supposed to go to the other base - by jetpack, motorcycle...

...Or if they were allowed to take the car or not.


	13. Episode 3: The Kryptonian Kid, Part 3

Lucius barely had time to jump out of the path of the wildly careening Batmobile coming into the lab. He opened his mouth to ask Bruce what in Heaven's name was the matter, but only let out a sigh of understanding as Batgirl emerged from the driver's seat.

"All I'm saying is, even _I _could drive this thing better than you!" Robin was teasing.

The teen snorted in amusement. "Yeah, right. I've got a couple years experience, and you have- oh, that's right, none."

"Do I want to know what you two think you're doing here?" Both of them glanced over at Lucius, who was wearing a neutral expression he'd learned from Alfred. Then they grinned.

"Batman's stuck in space right now, we need to get to the North Pole, and he said we should take the Javelin." Batgirl explained, and the grown man gulped.

"Oh... Did he now." Looking briefly at the hangar where he only so recently completed prototype was, Lucius couldn't help his anxiety. "And is it too much to hope that you'll bring it back in one piece?"

The grins got wider, which did not help settle Lucius' mind in the slightest.

-C-

Sobbing while she shakily flew, Kara didn't realize where she was heading until the Fortress she'd been living at the past month reared up in front of her blurry vision. Then the girl paused midair, barely holding her position while she thought.

With great trepidation, the small Kryptonian turned back and flew into the white expanse.

-C-

"This. Is. So. Cool!" Robin whisper-yelled, pressing his face to the window of the Javelin. In the pilot's seat beside him, Batgirl laughed, running her gaze over the panel of controls once again. Despite really wanting to know what they all did, the teen resisted the urge to start randomly pressing buttons.

The two of them were flying along at just over the speed of sound, yet the special design of the jet meant that neither needed to be in a flight suit. Below them, the frigid waters of the Atlantic were blown and buffeted by the passage of the Javelin.

"Hey Rob. Rob. Roooobin. Dick!" Tearing his eyes away from the incredible view, Robin turned to frown at his partner.

"What?" Batgirl nodded out the windshield ahead of them.

"Check it out."

Coming into view now was a thin band of white, stretching across from one side of the horizon to the other "Whoa." The kid breathed. "Guess that means we're here."

"Yep!" Checking the digital map display on the dash, Batgirl gently banked them a bit to the left. "Hopefully, we'll be at the Fortress inside of another twenty minutes."

Robin chuckled. "Do you realize we just traveled a third of the way around the globe in less than two hours?"

"It's official. We have the best toys ever." The words had just left Batgirl's mouth when an alarm started beeping.

Both youths stared at the little red warning light for a moment. Then Robin was leaning over, trying to bring up the display that would tell them what was wrong.

_Proximity alert, blizzard imminent._

"Oh, crud."

"That seat strap secure?" Batgirl asked him, her expression turning grim as the radar screen showed just how big of a storm was closing on their position. The boy jerked his head in a nod, settling back in the chair. Designed with the adults of the Justice League in mind, it was a little large for him, and left the kid's feet dangling in the air above the floor. To help remedy the size issue, Robin pulled his knees up to his chin, tucking himself into a ball on the seat. Gripping the handles of the steering wheel a little tighter, the elder of the two tilted the Javelin further in an effort to try and avoid the blizzard.

No such luck. The first gust of icy wind jostled them a few minutes later, and then the turbulence became so bad that Batgirl focused less on keeping them pointed in the right direction and more on just staying in the air.

One particularly violent shove, coupled with large ice chunks suddenly hitting the starboard wing, nearly tore the steering device from her hands. Gritting her teeth, Batgirl hauled it back, ignoring the new proximity alert telling her that the ground was getting awfully close.

Robin was deathly quiet in the seat next to her, and Batgirl suddenly had a horrible feeling that every time the jet jerked and dropped, he was hearing the screams in Haly's Circus again.

Another gust threw them sideways, and downwards, the metal and the thrusters protesting, the alarms blaring, until-

_BAM._

-The Javelin ran into something definitely _not_ picked up by the sensor array.

Uncurling just enough to peer out the window again, Robin's jaw dropped. "Uh, Barbara? Found her."


	14. Episode 3: The Kryptonian Kid, Part 4

"Well, at least Lucius can't blame us for the dents!" Batgirl proclaimed cheerfully, eyeing the pair of hand-shaped indentations on the central fuselage of the Javelin. After catching the jet in its downward tumble, Kara had gently set it upon solid ground, and was at least willing to stick around for the blizzard to move on so she could check on the people inside.

She was surprised, to say the least, that the two humans had been coming out here to look for _her._

"I'm sorry." The girl squeaked, peering up at the imprints as well. Grinning, Robin reached out a hand and softly patted her shoulder.

"It's fine Kara. Batgirl was bound to crash it into something, anyway - at least, thanks to you, the damage is only in a couple of spots." He ignored the death glare shot at him over the alien's head, which Kara was oblivious to.

"I'm still sorry. Everything I do on this planet just makes more trouble-"

"Are you kidding? If you hadn't come up here, it could have taken weeks for us to learn about this thing, let alone actually fly in it!" Robin exclaimed. "Not to mention, getting Batman stuck up on the Watchtower, unable to do more than send us one transmission of instructions, is all kinds of hilarious."

Kara was still frowning, but now her expression had shifted from misery to something approaching confusion. Her gaze went back and forth between the two heroes on either side of her, before finally asking the question dominating her mind. "You... You _both_ work for that Batman?"

"Work _with,_" Batgirl was quick to correct. "And yeah, we do. I know, Robin's costume kind of throws off the 'creature of the night' vibe, but that just helps him be a bigger distraction to the bad guys."

"And let my partners get even closer before we take 'em down." The boy finished with a smirk.

"Oh... And, neither of you has powers?"

"Nope!" They both responded cheerfully, which confused the Kryptonian girl even more.

"We like proving we're just as good at the job as other heroes." Robin explained after a moment. "We have to use our brains a lot to do what they could with superpowers-"

"Or upper body strength in your case, Pixie."

"-But we can still use our skills and weapons to do a lot of good. Especially in Gotham City, where the crooks are insane, but usually just as human as we are." Still a little uncertain, Kara nodded nonetheless.

"Now the question is, what are we gonna do with you?" Batgirl mused.

"W-what?!" The smaller girl asked in alarm.

"Easy, easy, I just meant, what's our next plan of action? We were told to come find you, make sure you didn't get hurt or something, but Batman never actually specified what to do once we caught up to you."

Kara breathed a sigh of relief, before rubbing the back of her head nervously. "But, I-I can't go where there are people. I just, I can't." The two humans exchanged sad glances.

"Look, Kara," Robin said softly. "I know you're kind of scared right now, but things will get better. You just need practice, that's all."

"Yeah- and why was Superman making you stay up here, anyway? He had to grow up on Earth and learn to use his powers just the same, why doesn't he take you to that family farm or wherever for you to stay?" Batgirl suggested, but the alien had started shaking her head halfway through the teen's words.

"Kal _did_ grow up here. His abilities developed one by one as he grew and matured. But I... I'm late. I got here, and everything started happening all at once, and I had such a hard time at first, especially when I kept thinking of Mama and Poppa and I-" Both humans' eyes widened as the girl started breathing faster and faster, her words shifting into a language they assumed was Kryptonian.

"Kara! Hey, Kara, look at me, okay?" Robin grabbed her hands, causing the alien to stiffen, but she listened to his order. "Why don't you just start at the beginning, okay? Tell us everything."

She sniffed, dropping limply to her knees and dragging the boy down with her, but Kara did. She told them everything...

_Kara had been playing underneath her father's desk when the door slammed, and a voice called for her._

"_Here, Poppa!" Scurrying out from the workplace, the child ran straight into her father's arms, laughing with delight as he scooped her up into the air._

"_Ah, and here you are, my little Sol-Flower." He grinned and planted a kiss on her brow. "Are you ready to meet your new cousin, Kara my heart?"_

_She gasped. "Yes! I thought Uncle Jor and Aunt Lara weren't coming until tomorrow?"_

_Zor's face briefly flickered into something akin to apprehension before his smile returned, as strong as before. "Well, they got here a bit early. Now come, after nearly ten months of waiting, I know you're eager to meet the baby."_

_She was, and tiny little Kal-el, when he reached up from the blanket to grasp at her fingers, was the cutest thing Kara had ever seen._

"_Hi, little cousin!" The girl whispered to him. "Don't worry, my name's Kara, and I'm always gonna watch out for you. That's what cousins do for each other!"_

_It wasn't two weeks later than the ground began to tremble, and Kara ran screaming to her father's work room. "Poppa, Poppa, what's happening? Why is everything shaking?"_

"_Kara!" He didn't answer her questions, just scooped her up and raced towards the launch bay, where he and Uncle Jor had spent almost a full three days working on the family's visit. "Don't be afraid, my flower. Everything will be alright, I promise."_

"_But Poppa-" She protested as he activated a small rocket, newly constructed, beneath the opening bay doors. "Where are we going?"_

"_Where you are going, my heart, is a small world, where you will find your baby cousin in a pod like this."_

"_W-what?" Kara stared at him as Zor lowered her into the open rocket, reaching out protesting hands as he went to close the lid. "Poppa, when will you get there?"_

_He paused, eyes closing in pain, before opening them again to try and give her a reassuring look. Kara only saw grief in his gaze. "Not long, Sol-Flower, I hope. You'll just have to watch out for little Kal in the meantime, alright? Your uncle sent him off yesterday... I should have sent you sooner.."_

"_Poppa, please, I'm scared, what is happening?" She begged, holding onto his larger hand with both her shaking ones. "Poppa?"_

"_I love you, Kara, never forget that." With those words, he pressed a kiss to her forehead, then stepped back and sealed the rocket. Kara continued to scream and cry even as she was launched into the sky; especially as she saw entire pieces of their planet breaking away, large green cracks appearing across the surface. Even as the chamber she was in began to go into its cryogenic state, and Kara was pulled into a forced sleep, she sobbed for her father. By the time a chunk of the exploding planet struck the rocket and damaged one of the engines, the girl was locked into her frozen state, unable to emerge from nightmares of seeing her father torn away._

_When the rocket did crash upon the distant planet, and Kara awoke from cryogenic storage, the first thing she did was scream for her lost parent. After several minutes of dejected sobbing, she tried to activate the little ship's scanners, to find the baby that was supposed to be on this new world as well. Her panic increased as multiple devices reported critical failures, including the tracking systems. She'd promised, she'd promised to always look out for her cousin, her father had told her to, she had to find him-_

_So focused upon her task, Kara didn't even notice the flying man until he'd touched down beside her. Then she screamed. Repeatedly._

_By the time Superman had calmed her down, shifting from some other tongue to Kryptonian with a surprised look, Kara was able to beg him to help her find little Kal._

_He'd had a bewildered look on his face as he told her his true name was Kal-el, and that their homeworld, Krypton, had been destroyed a little over twenty five years previously. When Kara had awoken from her faint, she was within an icy fortress, and spent the next several days reconciling with her grief. Then Kal had taken her outside, to feel the rays of the yellow sun, and Kara's new powers emerged. Experiencing them for the first time had been the second most stressful event of her life._

_The first would always haunt her nightmares as the look in her father's eyes as he sent her away, knowing full well they would never see each other again._

Shuddering as she finished, Kara lifted her gaze to a shocking site.

Both Batgirl and Robin had removed their masks, and the girl was looking at eyes as pain-filled as her own. Wordlessly, the human boy wrapped his arms around her in a hug, while the teen reached over to start stroking Kara's hair. The familiar gestures were enough to send her into sobs again, and the alien girl just sat there and cried, grateful for the small comforts the humans were able to grant her.

"I get it, Kara." Robin whispered beside her. "I really do." And he told her of his own story, of living happily in the circus, until a criminal called Tony Zucco came and took it all away. Hearing of the deaths of the Flying Graysons, Kara took some small glow of appreciation that she had not physically seen her father die.

When Robin finished his tale describing how he'd helped Batman take the murderer to justice, Kara reflected on it in silence for several minutes.

"So, does this... Does this mean, I can put on a costume like Kal's, and help protect Earth too?" Robin and Batgirl both blinked, the grinned.

"I don't see why not, if you really want to."

"I-" Kara paused to take a deep breath. "I think I do. And, it would be good practice, right?"

"No doubt about that in the world."


End file.
